The Empire Strikes Back! White House bans news outlets from briefing!!

This is how the front page of CNN looks at the hour.. major journalistic enterprises have been blocked from attending the White House briefing Friday afternoon..

THE THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS...

Journalists from The New York Times and two other news organizations were prohibited from attending a briefing by President Trump’s press secretary on Friday, a highly unusual breach of relations between the White House and its press corps.
Reporters from The Times, CNN and Politico were not allowed to enter the West Wing office of the press secretary, Sean M. Spicer, for the scheduled briefing. Aides to Mr. Spicer allowed in reporters from only a handpicked group of news organizations that, the White House said, had been previously confirmed to attend.

Organizations allowed in included Breitbart News, the One America News Network and The Washington Times, all with conservative leanings. Journalists from ABC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Fox News also attended.

Reporters from Time magazine and The Associated Press, who were set to be allowed in to the briefing, chose not to attend in protest of the White House’s actions.
“Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties,” Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, said in a statement. “We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national

 

SUNDAY WASHINGTON DC RUMBLINGS

White House discussing asking foreign visitors for social media info and cell phone contacts »

Amid the chaos and confusion of President Donald Trump’s new executive order on immigration and refugees, sources tell CNN that White House policy director Stephen Miller spoke with officials of the State Department, Customs and Border Patrol, Department of Homeland Security and others to tell them that the President is deeply committed to the executive order and the public is firmly behind it – urging them not to get distracted by what he described as hysterical voices on TV.

MORE..

White House press secretary Sean Spicer did not respond to a request for comment.Already, Politico reported in December, the US government had quietly begun asking that foreign visitors provide their social media accounts voluntarily. The Obama administration had previously approved asking for much more information from people on terror watch lists, The Intercept reported in 2014.Trump’s executive order bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.Trump’s unilateral moves, which have drawn the ire of human rights groups and prompted protests at US airports, reflect the President’s desire to quickly make good on his campaign promises. But they also encapsulate the pitfalls of an administration largely operated by officials with scant federal experience.

With National Security Council Shakeup, Steve Bannon Gets A Seat At The Table »

President Trump has reorganized the National Security Council by elevating his chief strategist Steve Bannon and demoting the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Now, Bannon will join the NSC’s principals committee, the top inter-agency group for discussing national security. The National Security Council is the staff inside the White House that coordinates decision making by the president on such matters, in coordination with outside departments including the State Department and the Pentagon.

Global Criticism of Trump Ban Builds From Germany to Google »

The world is in a flivver…
Trump puts earth in a quiver..
A ban on a plane..
The global pain..
At the future we shiver..

Global opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump intensified on Sunday, as world leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced his decision to limit entry from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the name of fighting terrorism.

Trudeau, in a tweet, said Canada would welcome those fleeing “persecution, terror and war. Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith.” Merkel expressed her concerns about the temporary ban during a call with Trump on Saturday, her chief spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.

Uber Responds to Rage over Alleged 'Strikebreaking' During Protests »

On Saturday night, Uber’s New York City Twitter account notified riders that the company was turning off surge pricing for trips at JFK Airport, the site of protests against President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking some Middle Eastern travelers and refugees.

Critics swiftly accused the ridesharing company of attempting to undermine or profit from a work stoppage by taxi drivers that had been called by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, an AFL-CIO affiliate that represents many immigrants, and whose work has been largely focused on stopping the encroachment of ride-hailing companies like Uber.

What followed was a firestorm of online anger and calls for a boycott of Uber. Well into Sunday morning, #deleteuber was a top trending topic on Twitter, with many commenters sharing screenshots of their deletions or account cancellations.

And now the newest feature of today’s online world; How to quit UBER.. delete UBER.. get rid of UBER..

SO THIS HAPPENED TODAY: Trump asked me how to legally create ‘Muslim ban’ said Giuliani »

Mark Moore writes.

Rudy Giuliani said Donald Trump asked him to work out how he could legally implement a “Muslim ban.”

“He called me up, he said, ‘Put a commission together, show me the right way to do it legally,’” the former mayor, who has been advising President Trump, said on “Fox News” Saturday.

Giuliani then said he put a panel together that included former federal Judge Michael Mukasey, Rep. Peter King and Texas Rep. Michael McCaul to come up with a plan that placed the emphasis on threats not religion.

“And what we did was we focused on, instead of religion, danger,” Giuliani said.

“The areas of the word that create danger for us, which is a factual basis, not a religious basis. Perfectly legal, perfectly sensible,” he added.

The president signed an executive order on Friday that bans indefinitely refugees from Syria from entering the US and for 90 days immigrants from seven predominately Muslim countries – Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya.

Trump doubles down on refugee ban »

President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his executive order to severely curb refugees and legal immigration, insisting on Twitter that America needs “extreme vetting” to avoid the “horrible mess” elsewhere.

Trump’s defense of his actions came as he faced escalating pressure to rescind the order. A growing number of Republicans chided Trump for the order, humanitarian groups planned a second round of protests Sunday, and some judges issued rulings halting the deportation of refugees and others caught in the fire.

On Twitter of course…..

“Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world — a horrible mess!” Trump tweeted early in the morning.

Reports: '57 dead' in first US raid on Qaeda in Yemen under President »

A US raid in Yemen killed 41 suspected Al-Qaeda militants and 16 civilians on Sunday, an official said, in what would be America’s first military action in the country under President Donald Trump.

Eight women and eight children were among those killed in the dawn raid in Yakla district, in the central province of Baida, said the provincial official, who did not want to be named, and tribal sources.

Sources in the region said the raid targeted the houses of three tribal chiefs linked to Al-Qaeda.

The provincial official said Apache helicopters also struck a school, a mosque and a medical facility which were all used by Al-Qaeda militants.

Confusion over the Trump executive disorder

Reporting from CNN

When President Donald Trump declared at the Pentagon Friday he was enacting strict new measures to prevent domestic terror attacks, there were few within his government who knew exactly what he meant.Administration officials weren't immediately sure which countries' citizens would be barred from entering the United States. The Department of Homeland Security was left making a legal analysis on the order after Trump signed it. A Border Patrol agent, confronted with arriving refugees, referred questions only to the President himself, according to court filings.Saturday night, a federal judge granted an emergency stay for citizens of the affected countries who had already arrived in the US and those who are in transit and hold valid visas, ruling they can legally enter the US.

And more..

It wasn't until Friday -- the day Trump signed the order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and suspending all refugee admission for 120 days -- that career homeland security staff were allowed to see the final details of the order, a person familiar with the matter said.The result was widespread confusion across the country on Saturday as airports struggled to adjust to the new directives. In New York, two Iraqi nationals sued the federal government after they were detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and 10 others were detained as well.

Border blitz! The Trump ban! The overturning judge! All breaking tonight

SATURDAY NIGHTS ARE RIGHT FOR FIGHTING..
THE DRUDGE REPORT SUMMARIZES HEADLINES OF TODAY THE BEST WITH A SERIES OF HEADLINES AND LINKS ..

Protesters Gather At JFK...
Taxi drivers strike...
Ban includes green card holders...
Lawyers move in...
Trump expands power of immigration officers...
Agents Cheer...
Iranian Filmmaker Barred From Oscars...
Tehran vows retaliation...
GOOGLE Recalls Overseas Staff...
Silicon Sultans Panic...
Hollywood Meltdown...
Journalists Freak...

BORDER BLITZ SPARKS CHAOS
REFUGEES TURNED AWAY
JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP

Another day in the life of the Trump presidency

If you check your favorite news service of choice as of late, you may be noticing a trend.. All Trump, all the time..
And the headlines? So often unkind..

This is a smattering of issues from today.. A screenshot first to capture a moment time:


From the NEW YORK TIMES  concerning the sudden (but expected) tension with the land down  under the United States:

Mr. Trump’s push to fulfill his campaign pledge and build a border wall brought to a head months of simmering tensions, culminating in a remarkable back-and-forth between the two leaders.By afternoon, Mr. Trump’s spokesman said the president would pay for the border wall by imposing a 20 percent tax on imports to the United States, which he said would raise billions of dollars.The sparring began Thursday morning when the president of Mexico announced on Twitter that he was canceling his meeting with Mr. Trump next week, rejecting the visit after the new American leader ordered the border wall between the two nations.Having called for dialogue in the face of Mr. Trump’s vows to build a wall during the American presidential campaign, President Enrique Peña Nieto ultimately bowed to public pressure in Mexico to respond more forcefully to his northern neighbor.

 Concerning that threat of a 20% tax..

President Trump will call for a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports in the hopes of raising billions of dollars to help construct a controversial wall along the southern border of the United States — a move likely to ratchet up the tension between the two nations.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Thursday that the plan had been discussed with congressional Republican leaders and is part of a broader tax reform effort. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told NBC News the 20 percent tax on Mexican imports is one of a "buffet of options", sentiments Spicer also echoed.

And on the DoomsDay Clock:

Moving the Clock 30 seconds, rather than a full minute or more, was a first as well, meant to reflect the fact that while Trump's words on the campaign trail raised the specter of a renewed arms race—Trump tweeted in December that the U.S. must "greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its sense regarding nukes"—it was too early to know exactly what he would do as President. "It is now only six or seven days of the Administration, and actions speak louder than words," said Krauss. "We want to send a message that things are not going in the right direction."

......and it hasn't even been a full week yet.
 Welcome to the new America..?

"Comedy" in the Trump era

There is no doubt that comedy, irony, and lampoonery is the soundest of principles to keep power in check.. Donald Trump deserves every bit of it as would any leader or public official who makes decisions that need to be held up to the light of day.
But that said...
There are some troubling things.

A SNL writer Tweeted this weekend that Barron Trump, the President's 10-year-old son, would be the first 'home school shooter.' He is not even home schooled by the way. And now just this:

A Comedy Central writer called Barron a "date rapist to be." It did not stop there.

Comedy Central writer Stephen Spinola is under fire for tweeting that President Trump’s 10-year-old son Barron Trump is a “date rapist to be”.
In a since deleted tweet, Spinola joked, “Barron Trump looks like a very handsome date-rapist-to-be.”
He followed it up with another tweet that said, “I don’t want my Mom to get raped, but if she does I hope it’s by Barron Trump – small pp would be painless & we’d win lots of money in court.”
After receiving a deluge of criticism, Spinola proceeded to complain about people on Twitter being abusive to him.

A little disgusting.
The same way it was when former President Obama's daughters were initially targeted by some members of the media .. the President at that time said his family was off limits. Trump needs to do the same -- but not sure if many will listen.

Right now is one of the nastiest times for the internet I can recall.. I recoil at my Facebook newsfeed.. I shield myself from Twitter.. I try to look away and find solace in the non-political. But these days so many things come back to politics.. Just about everything as a matter of fact.
Unification seems to far away. President Trump may be judged according to his policies and actions, however the initial criticism seems to be getting way too personal.. too cruel.. and to direct to his son Barron.

Barron is a 10-year-old. He is not fair game, it's not cool or proper to think he is. And yes, there will be a continuous flow of Tweets and media commentary destroying his life.. Nothing said in response will stop the rudeness or rottenness...

...decency in decay on the information superhighway...

The Mighty Trump Tweets again

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING.. THE TWEETING WILL CONTINUE.. The president of the United States seems to have the professionals using the @POTUS account.. meanwhile the private Tweetstream continues unabashed.

If he fails or succeeds one thing is clear: This is going to be a transitional president, and for better or worse (depending on your political stance) a very historic figure..

NEWEST REUTERS POLL: DONALD TRUMP INVINCIBLE IN GOP RACE

NEWEST REUTERS POLL: DONALD TRUMP INVINCIBLE IN GOP RACE

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Pro Trump people are getting nasty..
Anti Trump people are getting nasty.
Effigies of him are now being beaten and beheaded in weird fits of rage.. all the while those opposed to him decry the rage at his rallies.

I want this election to be over as soon as possible. Maybe it’s the most important in history (though we hear that every four years) but it certainly will be the most divisive and potentially unhealthy for the nation.. 

Some of the most creative and amazing photoshopped images ever: Donald Trump as horror movie characters..

See them all!

No logical person should be surprised by this

Donald Trump says he will not run for president in 2012.

LET THE WILD RIDE BEGIN: DONALD TRUMP ALMOST ANNOUNCES, BUT WILL WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE APPRENTICE..

Did last night’s mockery put him over the edge? Can he win a nomination? … will he allow wind to move his hair? 

All of these questions to be answered in time.

LET THE WILD RIDE BEGIN: DONALD TRUMP ALMOST ANNOUNCES, BUT WILL WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE APPRENTICE..

The Donald responds: 

'I don't think the American people are having a good time with $5 gas'…

I think I found the perfect image for news orgs to use as their ‘stock shot’ of Donald Trump. I don’t think no one image can perfectly sum up the man who would purchase the White House better than this.

I am desperately searching for my birth certificate for something I need.. Maybe Donald Trump can accuse me of not having one in order for me to find it faster..?

News from the coal mine.. Deep and dark tidbits of tenacity from the world at large

While it’s not a full collection of the horrors that took place on earth today, it’s what I found most interesting..

Perhaps the MOST interesting of all is the HANGOVER 2 trailer being pulled for a monkey sex scene…

No more HANGOVER? HANGOVER 2 trailer pulled from theaters by the

MPAA..Slashfilm gets document..

So what got it pulled? A monkey sex scene..

And here are the rest of the pieces of newsbytes from around the world:

If Donald Trump ran for president, could he win? A new poll suggests he is pulling second place in the GOP race..

Broke: New York City to close 20 fire companeis..

Glenn Beck OUT at Fox News..
Government shut down looms on Friday..
What a government shut down would mean for you..

A honeymooning couple with miracle luck: They survived 6 natural disasters!

Scottish school hit by storm—of worms!

President Obama remembers what it was like to pump gas.. That’s great.

REAL RETINAS grown in a lab hold promise..

Move over Hoff! Now you don't mess with the Loaf

Anyone just see the CELEBRITY APPRENTICE? Classic in my mind already

Meatloaf snapping and cussing at Gary Busey? .. Who can ask for anyone more?

Get ready for more Sheen

Charlie Sheen is perhaps the most intelligent Hollywood star in years! His TV show is going to be even more famous if it’s canceled, it may end up on HBO making millions more in a special.. that’s if he makes the right choices. Wrong choices will lead him to a VH1 reality show about losing weight, if he gains weight, or perhaps even an appearance on a future episode of Donald Trump’s THE APPRENTICE, if Donald doesn’t run for president.

Blanket media attention will continue on Sheen on a special edition of “20/20” to air Tuesday, March 1st, 2011.. An interview with Charlie Sheen. Just him, though, Alex Jones will not be there.

The upcoming CELEBRITY APPRENTICE looks like an absolute train wreck..

…and the Donald wants to run for president..?

Trump America..? He's thinkin...

Donald Trump hints that he may run for president!
The hair to decide by June..